There was, and perhaps still is, a problem in England where instead of carrying one's shopping home, people would just take their shopping home in the trolley and then never return it. Consequently, shopping trolleys were often found dumped. More often than not in rivers. To stop this, many supermarkets now require people to put cash in a coin slot in the trolley in order to use it, which is refunded when the trolley is returned to the supermarket (much like the system you have for luggage carts at US airports).

This is not needed in American supermarkets. It is not needed in American supermarkets because unlike in England it is not physically possible to walk to the shop. Sidewalks simply disappear. Consequently there are no coin slots but there is lots of American-made global warming from all those Americans having to drive to get their groceries.

You only really get why the world is warming up when you come to America. All those cars. All those people unwilling to walk or take the bus. All those people thinking they are entitled to drive.

There was, and perhaps still is, a problem in England where instead of carrying one's shopping home, people would just take their shopping home in the trolley and then never return it. Consequently, shopping trolleys were often found dumped. More often than not in rivers. To stop this, many supermarkets now require people to put cash in a coin slot in the trolley in order to use it, which is refunded when the trolley is returned to the supermarket (much like the system you have for luggage carts at US airports).

This is not needed in American supermarkets. It is not needed in American supermarkets because unlike in England it is not physically possible to walk to the shop. Sidewalks simply disappear. Consequently there are no coin slots but there is lots of American-made global warming from all those Americans having to drive to get their groceries.

You only really get why the world is warming up when you come to America. All those cars. All those people unwilling to walk or take the bus. All those people thinking they are entitled to drive.

Except Jimbo.

Click to expand...

Yeah, thats what happens with a big sprawling country. A little crowded country is MUCH better. The illegals keep coming here because it's so bad here and it it costs them so much for their free medical treatment, which is so, so much worse than the shitholes they come from.

But illegals certainly don't come to America for the medical treatment! Or the pensions! Or the handouts!

(There aren't any).

Immigrants come here to earn a salary, which they promptly send home.

I doubt many of them retire in the States either.

The incomes in America are pretty good. But the public services leave a lot to be desired.

Which is why most of the bridges are in a state of disrepair. Being caught in traffic on an American interstate is terrifying.

You get to see the crumbling pillars up close!

I have come to the sad conclusion that America's high incomes are being subsidized by a society and a country that is falling apart due to excessively low taxes and inadequate spending. American jobs are being propped up by unsustainable cheap gas, without which the country would grind to a halt.

America in ten years will be a very different place. I hope it will still be here.

The one thing that always shines through is its innovation. But this will be a tall order.

But illegals certainly don't come to America for the medical treatment! Or the pensions! Or the handouts!

(There aren't any).

Immigrants come here to earn a salary, which they promptly send home.

I doubt many of them retire in the States either.

The incomes in America are pretty good. But the public services leave a lot to be desired.

Which is why most of the bridges are in a state of disrepair. Being caught in traffic on an American interstate is terrifying.

You get to see the crumbling pillars up close!

I have come to the sad conclusion that America's high incomes are being subsidized by a society and a country that is falling apart due to excessively low taxes and inadequate spending. American jobs are being propped up by unsustainable cheap gas, without which the country would grind to a halt.

America in ten years will be a very different place. I hope it will still be here.

The one thing that always shines through is its innovation. But this will be a tall order.

Click to expand...

open up your eyes and ears Ian. they get free medical treatment at the hospital emergency rooms (required by government). they get handouts from the neighborhood churches they live near. pensions, no, you are correct about that. excessively low taxes? we've done that already.

by the way, we say in the US what does that have to do with the price of onions?

And, you don't like it here. Have we ever suggested that if you don't like it, you always have the option to go home.

You're not going to change anything here cause you can't vote, which is a good thing in my opinion.

Where is the coin slot on your trolley? Tell the Americans about that system.

Click to expand...

We have coin slots in Canada. It's not to keep people from taking them home, it's simply to get people to return the carts to the corral rather than leave them about in the parking lot. They don't want to pay a bag boy to gather up the carts.

We still abandon the carts in the parking lot and leave the quarter in the slot so someone else can use the cart without paying ransom.

Nobody walks to the store around here. Everyone drives and they mostly drive 4x4 pickups or SUVs.

Do they pay income taxes or get paid cash under the table? Many I've met don't spend much of their earnings here to fuel the local economy (trickle down reaganomics) but rather send most of the money home to their family.

There is a huge black market economy here. Many products and/or services have essentially two prices, one with receipt, and one paid cash. I'm not talking about illegal alien labour either, just people avoiding sales tax and declared income. Apparently the Canadian tax system is more easily skirted.

I wonder how many people are standing in the unemployment line due to those people who are in our country illegally.

Click to expand...

Of the 312 Million residents in the US, the Hispanic population is about 49 million, and there are approx 13 million Illegal aliens supposedly from south of the border plus from other nations. so almost 1/4 of the Hispanic population here is illegal. I have no problem with legal resisdents of the US from wherever they are from on this planet. Of the 13 million above mentioned illegals, there is a very large number of them doing jobs that US citizens and legal residents could be doing. I disagree that all those jobs that they do here are those that US citizens are unwilling to do (at normal par scales). The illegals are being taken advantage of by employers that underpay them by US standards. Yes, they send most of their money home, because they rent houses or buy a house and 20 to 30 of them share the house and its costs, and eventually turn the house and the neighborhood in a ghetto. Once they are in, it is difficult legally to evict them. The authorities in many communities are unwilling to enforce immigration laws. They pay no income taxes. If they need medical attention, they go to an ER and the hospital is obligated to triage them and help them for free, up to what point I am not sure.

There was, and perhaps still is, a problem in England where instead of carrying one's shopping home, people would just take their shopping home in the trolley and then never return it. Consequently, shopping trolleys were often found dumped. More often than not in rivers. To stop this, many supermarkets now require people to put cash in a coin slot in the trolley in order to use it, which is refunded when the trolley is returned to the supermarket (much like the system you have for luggage carts at US airports).

This is not needed in American supermarkets. It is not needed in American supermarkets because unlike in England it is not physically possible to walk to the shop. Sidewalks simply disappear. Consequently there are no coin slots but there is lots of American-made global warming from all those Americans having to drive to get their groceries.

You only really get why the world is warming up when you come to America. All those cars. All those people unwilling to walk or take the bus. All those people thinking they are entitled to drive.

Except Jimbo.

Click to expand...

Here the best (and cheapest) local grocery stores employ clean cut, articulate high school students to reload one's trolley after the groceries are paid for, push the trolley to the customer's vehicle, unload the groceries into the car, and then return the cart to the store. They will also carry groceries to the local bus stop for people who arrive by bus. All very civilized, and it is a pleasure to see young kids (14+) develop good communication skills and a work ethic. These stores are closed on Sundays, so Ian may have an issue with that. But this practice is certainly one of the reasons I shop there.

And I do like it here Bob. But there's no harm in wanting a couple of bridges fixed is there?

You don't have to like everything about something to still like it.

It's like steak. Sometimes it's a cooked a little bit over done but I still eat it.

America's like that.

But you're clearly in heaven here. And that's great to hear.

Click to expand...

Look Ian, the US as far as I am concerned, although not perfect, is the best place in the world to live except for Hawaii. Oh wait, that is the US. All you want to do is have MORE taxes collected from the working people and give it away to the lazy. I already have 1/3 of my wages taken by taxes and pay 8.62% sales tax on most everything I buy, plus pay $8K/year real estate tax. There is only so much to give before its just not worth working anymore and become 'one of them". I'm not ready or willing for that to happen. I think you actually would prefer the entire world to go back to the Medieval days and have us all be serfs and peons, letting the royalty give us what we might or might not need (their choice). Kind of like a bee colony. What would you be; oh! the beloved tax collector for the royalty

Our local grocery still offers a carry-out service albeit one then has to wait for the bag boy to be paged. We generally decline the offer but the wife sometimes takes advantage of it if heavy items are involved and I'm not with her. I don't care to pay ransom to get a cart as I never carry coins in my pocket so if I can find an abandoned cart, I'm happy and I repay the favor by leaving the unshacked cart for the next person even if I had to make change to ransom a cart.

I have the same attitude toward self-serve gas, going out of my way to find full service. Unfortunately, full service gas bars are getting fewer and farther in between and I find myself pumping my own more often. It's not that pumping my own gas is beneath me, but rather that I'm taking food out of someone's mouth so that gas stations can make more profit.

It seems that many people no longer give tips as we often get a surprised reaction when we tip someone. Has tips become a form of charity that is insulting? When we eat out at a restaurant, we don't tip the owner if/when given personal service because that could be insulting but we do tip the staff.

Our local grocery still offers a carry-out service albeit one then has to wait for the bag boy to be paged. We generally decline the offer but the wife sometimes takes advantage of it if heavy items are involved and I'm not with her. I don't care to pay ransom to get a cart as I never carry coins in my pocket so if I can find an abandoned cart, I'm happy and I repay the favor by leaving the unshacked cart for the next person even if I had to make change to ransom a cart.

I have the same attitude toward self-serve gas, going out of my way to find full service. Unfortunately, full service gas bars are getting fewer and farther in between and I find myself pumping my own more often. It's not that pumping my own gas is beneath me, but rather that I'm taking food out of someone's mouth so that gas stations can make more profit.

It seems that many people no longer give tips as we often get a surprised reaction when we tip someone. Has tips become a form of charity that is insulting? When we eat out at a restaurant, we don't tip the owner if/when given personal service because that could be insulting but we do tip the staff.

Click to expand...

Here in the NY metro area and most places I've been to around the US, food service employees (waiters/waitresses) get paid a very small wage below minimum wage. In NY metro, it is about $4 and change an hour, and their real income is trom tips, so they depend on it. when I go to family owned restaurants and I get served by an owner, I leave the same tip for him/her as I would for an employee because here, the tips are pooled and shared with the bus boys, cooks etc. I generally leave about 18 to 20% tip, always rounding it up to the next dollar. I like it that way. bad service: reflected in the tip unless I get an acceptable apology. In Europe, the gratuity is built in. European wait staff can tend to be more professional, maybe, but if the service is not to your liking, too bad, they still get their built in gratuity. If it is exceptional, I give extra, even though it is unexpected by them. I never felt I insulted anybody by rewarding them for good service.